Qualification for Euro-2023 among girls - National volleyball team of Ukraine U-17
April 21. The first game
Pristina, Kosovo. The sports hall "1 Tetori"
Ukraine — Belgium 0-3 (13:25, 14:25, 21:25)
The blue and yellows started with a defeat in the second qualifying round of the 2023 European Championship. Our sportswomen were able to impose a struggle on the strong and organized team of Belgium, but at important moments fortune was on the side of the opponents.
The Belgians immediately surprised the Ukrainians with their good serves: it was difficult for them to act on the reception in those moments, hence the numbers on the scoreboard — 1:5. Anastasiia Kotliarenko took a time-out. However, after the break, the Ukrainians continued to make mistakes, and their opponents continued to earn aces - 2:10.
Soon our volleyball players responded to their opponents, so to speak, with the same weapon. On the serve of Sofiia Khrystenko, they issued a series of positive rallies and eventually reduced their gap. The player herself recorded an ace on her account - 10:15. After that, the blue-yellow team had success in absolutely nothing, both in attack and defense - 13:25.
The beginning of the second set remained precisely for the team of Anastasiia Kotliarenko - 3:1. However, the volleyball players of Belgium managed to turn the tide of the meeting and completely seized the initiative. The representatives of Ukraine were psychologically hooked and as a result, lost the chance to triumph in this segment — 14:25.
The next set in the context of intrigue was probably the most interesting. Our girls skilfully managed the ball, and also had an organized game over the net - 10:10. Very soon, thanks to their efforts, they had the opportunity to win the set - 16:13, 19:15. Unfortunately, due to their own mistakes, the leadership of the Ukrainians melted before our eyes, which led to the victory of Belgium - 21:25 and overall 0-3.
Let's add that in the second match of our group E, the volleyball players of Estonia confidently dealt with the players of Kosovo 3-0 (25:19, 25:13, 25:16).
